SUNDERLAND had to fight off intense European competition to sign Milan Aleksic, with Kristjaan Speakman expecting the 19-year-old to settle into an attacking-midfield role as he develops on Wearside.

Aleksic joined the Black Cats on deadline-day, signing a four-year contract as he completed a permanent move from Serbian side Radnicki that is understood to have been worth around £3m.

The teenager, who is currently with the senior Serbian national side after stepping up from the Under-19s, has been on Sunderland’s radar for a number of seasons, but Speakman admits he did not know whether the Black Cats would be able to sign the teenager given the strength of the competition for his services.

“We’ve tracked Milan for a long while, he’s a player we’ve been interested in for a significant period of time,” said Sunderland’s sporting director. “The issue there was just the number of competitors we were up against to try to acquire his signature.

“The boy, quite rightly, wanted to take his time to make the right decision. I think for us to come out on top in that competitive arena was really, really pleasing.

“He’s a young player who has shown real signs of future potential, and obviously this week he’s playing with the Serbian national team so that just shows you the calibre of player he is. He could have gone to a load of other big, big clubs in Europe, but he’s chosen to come here which I think is a really exciting thing for Sunderland as a club.”

Aleksic progressed through the youth ranks at Partizan Belgrade before joining Radnicki, where he played in the Serbian top-flight last season.

The youngster made 25 senior appearances, scoring two goals and claiming seven assists, and played in two Conference League qualifiers for Radnicki at the start of this season prior to moving to Wearside.

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He filled a number of different midfield roles for his previous side, but has been signed for Sunderland with a view to developing into an attacking midfielder.

“In the most recent professional environment he’s played in, he’s played in a number of different positions in midfield,” said Speakman. “We’re certainly looking for players in the midfield area who can be flexible, but who can specialise in one of the two positions we currently play with.

“At the moment, we tend to play with a deep-lying number six and then an eight and a ten, or however you want to describe it. I think, long term, he will probably be more of an attacking midfield player in that eight or ten role, although he has played in other positions.”

He will be given time to adapt to life in England, with the strength of Sunderland’s midfield options meaning Regis Le Bris can afford to take things slowly.

Dan Neil, Jobe Bellingham, Alan Browne and Chris Rigg have all played at the heart of the Black Cats midfield this season, with Salis Abdul Samed offering another option following his deadline-day loan move from Lens.

“Expectation wise, I think the nice thing with where our squad is at, at the minute, is that he (Aleksic) can come and adapt as quickly or as long as he needs to,” said Speakman. “There’s no pressure or need for him to come in and be a starter, or even to be coming off the bench, straight away.

“If he comes in and does amazingly well in training, then he’ll be like every other player and the coach will pick what he thinks is the best team. He’s here to be part of that.

“We’re really excited about him joining, we’ve just got to be sensible and relaxed around the amount of time it will take him. His English is not quite as good as some of the other players that have joined from Europe, so we just have to embrace him in the same way that he’s embraced our opportunity.”